The head of Sudan’s army and de facto head of state wants to dissolve a parallel military force run by his rival Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo
Getty, Al Majalla
Known for avoiding politics, the man from the Nile River state insists on only one army in the country. That has set up a clash with a rival leader known as Hemedti and a delay to civilian rule.
Al Burhan: The reluctant ruler of Sudan
Al Majalla - London
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When Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan appeared on national television in Sudan on 25 October 2021, he declared a state of emergency.
Dressed in full military fatigues for one of the biggest moments of his life, he told the country that its transitional authorities were dissolved.
Officials from the civilian government — including Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok — were arrested and many more were dismissed, as were non-military members of the Sovereignty Council, which had run the state after the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir.
BREAKING: The 2 warring generals have agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire in Sudan.
Army chief Burhan tells CNN's @nimaelbagir it would start at 6pm today, but his spokesman contradicts him on Facebook. RSF leader Hemedti accuses military of not honouring pause in fighting pic.twitter.com/KIdtFAoxVW
It was a pivotal moment for Sudan, in which al-Burhan said he wanted to "correct the course of the revolution" following regime change which divided the nation after a rule lasting 30 years.
It was a pivotal moment for Sudan, in which al-Burhan said he wanted to "correct the course of the revolution" following regime change which divided the nation after a rule lasting 30 years.
Opponents described what happened as a new military coup in Sudan, which has seen many since its independence in 1956. Al-Burhan's moment in front of the camera made him the face of this cycle of change.
It came after he was appointed as defence minister and chairman of the Transitional Military Council, succeeding Lieutenant General Awad Ibn Auf, who resigned after delivering a statement announcing the overthrow of al-Bashir in April 2019.
From the banks of the Nile to a disciplined military man
Al-Burhan comes from the Nile River State, north of Khartoum. He was born in 1960 in the village of Gundato into a religious family that follows the Khatmiyya order — one of the major Sufi orders in Sudan.
Al-Burhan fought in the Darfur war as an infantry officer, and the battles ended with the secession of southern Sudan, after graduating from Sudan's Military College in its 31st batch.
Described as "calm and disciplined" by close associates, he has avoided politics and factional affiliations during a career that has taken him to the top of the military establishment.
Described as "calm and disciplined" by close associates, he has avoided politics and factional affiliations during a career that has taken him to the top of the military establishment.
He was appointed as chief of staff of the Sudanese Armed Forces in 2018. The next year, President Omar al-Bashir shook up the army leadership just two months before his own downfall amid massive popular protests.
Al-Burhan's name came to wider prominence with his promotion from lieutenant general to general. He also became inspector general of the Armed Forces, having been commander of the ground forces.
Short-lived optimism
Al-Burhan's tendency to stay away from politics and to avoid making public statements that may reveal his personal leanings stoked optimism that he would support the transfer of power to civilians.
The military which he was leading agreed in August 2019 to share power until elections could be held. These arrangements ended suddenly with al-Burhan's televised address.
Sudan's Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan speaks following the signing of an initial deal aimed at ending a deep crisis caused by last year's military coup, in the capital Khartoum on December 5, 2022.
Leaders of the civil movement called it a military coup. That sparked a series of massive protests across Sudan demanding democracy.
A political crisis followed, with hopes of a major breakthrough rising up until the dispute between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti and al-Burhan's rival as Sudan's pre-eminent military man.
Al-Burhan has held several meetings with the Forces of Freedom and Change, a coalition of parties supporting democracy, to form a new civilian government and to purge the public sector of those loyal to the Bashir regime, who adopted the ideology of political Islam and have reappeared, according to observers of Sudanese affairs.
But it was a sharp dispute over the integration of the RSF into the regular army, and disagreement over leadership positions, that brought tension in Sudan to its recent peak, with violent clashes between the two forces.
#Sudan : residents of #Khartoum woke up this morning to the sound of gunfire and plumes of smoke rising into the air as clashes appear to have erupted in the capital city.
These armed confrontations follow weeks of rising tensions between the SAF and RSF military factions. pic.twitter.com/QXQXRsGnzi
Political agreement for civilian government delayed
The conflict delayed the final signing of a political agreement for a civilian government, a fundamental condition for the return of international aid to Sudan.
This delay comes after al-Burhan, Hemedti and several civilian politicans reached a December agreement in the presence of the United Nations Special Envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, to form another transitional civilian authority to end the crisis in Sudan.
Now, with open conflict back in one of the world's poorest countries, al-Burhan has returned to the spotlight. He says he will teach the RSF a lesson and remind them that the army is the only military institution in the country and that there is no alternative to dismantling the RSF.
According to al-Burhan, militias and private sector weapons have no place during the transition toward establishing a modern and civil state.
